Questions & Answers
Stencil FAQ
Material, sizing, lead times and how ordering works. If what you need isn't here, ask us directly.
- What are your stencils made of?
- Every stencil is cut from .060 HDPE — high-density polyethylene, sixty thousandths of an inch thick. It is stiff enough to lay flat on rough asphalt, flexible enough to roll for transport, and dried paint flakes off it rather than building up. It is a reusable material: with reasonable care a stencil will last for many repaint cycles rather than a single job.
- Do you serve Portland and the rest of Oregon?
- Yes. Our stencils are designed and cut in Portland, Oregon, and we work with contractors, property managers and municipalities across the Portland metro area, the Willamette Valley and the wider Pacific Northwest. We also ship nationwide, so you do not need to be local to order.
- Can I design my own stencil online?
- Yes. The stencil designer runs in your browser: type your text, choose a letter height and font, add arrows or symbols, and you see a live preview of the sheet with the price before you buy. There is no quote step for a design you build yourself — you can check out directly, or download the SVG and cut it on your own machine.
- How long does an order take?
- Stock flat-pack stencils ship quickly. Made-to-order work — oversized legends, large arrows and big symbols — is scheduled per job, and we confirm the lead time with you when we quote it rather than promising a date we have not checked. If you have a deadline, say so when you request the quote and we will tell you straight away whether it is workable.
- What letter height should I use for a parking lot?
- Twelve inches is the most common height for word legends on private commercial lots — it reads clearly from a moving vehicle at low speed. Four to six inches is typical for stall numbering and curb text, and eighteen inches or larger suits main entrances and higher-speed approaches. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and by the authority having jurisdiction over your site, so check locally before you commit to a size on a compliance-driven marking.
- Do you ship outside Oregon?
- Yes, we ship across the United States. Flat stencils go in a box; oversized pieces are rolled and shipped in a tube. Shipping is calculated from the actual size and weight of your order at checkout, or included in your quote for made-to-order work.
- Why can I buy some stencils online but not others?
- Flat-pack items — letters, numbers, and smaller word stencils — are predictable to make and ship, so you can buy them directly. Oversized and rolled pieces are made to order and need a production slot, so those go through a quote where we confirm price and lead time for your specific job. The price you see on the page is real either way.
- Can I get custom wording or a non-standard size?
- Yes. Most custom wording can be built directly in the online designer, priced and ordered without talking to anyone. For layouts the designer cannot handle — logos, unusual shapes, very large single-piece legends, or high volumes — request a quote and describe what you need.
- Can I just buy the file instead of the stencil?
- Yes. Any design you build in the designer can be bought as an SVG download for a small flat fee, delivered instantly with no shipping. That suits anyone running their own CNC router, laser or plotter. You keep the file; the download is a one-off purchase per design.
- Do you make accessible parking (ADA) symbols?
- Yes, we cut wheelchair symbol stencils for accessible parking spaces in the standard pavement-marking sizes, including the widely used 39 inch symbol. Whether a finished marking satisfies accessibility requirements depends on the symbol size you choose, where it is placed, and the code in force where you are, so confirm those against your local accessibility code before marking.
- What do I need for fire lane markings?
- FIRE LANE and NO PARKING FIRE LANE legends are among the most requested word stencils, most often in twelve inch letters. The exact wording, letter height, repetition interval and any accompanying curb painting are set by your local fire marshal or fire code official, and they vary between jurisdictions — check with them before ordering so you cut the right thing once.
- What file formats can I send you?
- Vector artwork is ideal — SVG, DXF, AI or a vector PDF. We can usually work from a clear raster image for simple shapes and text, but it may need redrawing, which we will tell you about when we quote. If you are not sure what you have, send it with your quote request and we will look.
- How many times can I reuse a stencil?
- There is no fixed number — it depends on the paint you use, how you clean it, and how it is stored. .060 HDPE is chosen because it survives repeated use: keep it flat, let overspray dry and flake off rather than scraping hard, and avoid leaving it folded under weight, and it will keep giving clean edges across many jobs.
- Is there a minimum order?
- No minimum for anything you can buy directly online or build in the designer — a single stencil is fine. For quoted made-to-order work there is no formal minimum either, though larger runs are more economical per piece because the setup is shared across them.
- How do I get a quote?
- Use the quote form and describe the marking you need — wording, letter height, quantity, and your deadline if you have one. If you are quoting from a specific product page, the form carries that product across so we know exactly what you are looking at. We come back with price and lead time, usually within one to two business days.
Still need something specific?
Build it yourself in the designer and see the price instantly, or send us the details and we'll quote it.